Games market research firm Alinea Analytics estimated Steam's total game gross revenue from January to August 2026 at $15 billion (approx. 20.5 trillion won). This is an increase of approximately 15% compared to the same period last year.
| 📒 | - Alinea estimates $15B in gross revenue from Jan–Aug - Up 15% YoY, surpassing full-year 2023 total - Analyst estimate, not official Valve financial figures |
In a market analysis released on September 3, Alinea Analytics stated that Steam's total gross revenue for the first eight months of this year has already surpassed its full-year total for 2023. The firm previously estimated Steam's total gross revenue for 2023 at $13.3 billion (approx. 18.1 trillion won).
In these statistics, total gross revenue refers to the overall volume of revenue generated by games through Steam. It does not represent Valve's actual net revenue or operating profit earned through platform fees or other means. Nor are these official results released by Valve; all figures cited in the article are estimates based on Alinea Analytics' proprietary analytical model.
Major new releases launched this year accounted for a limited share of the overall market. Alinea Analytics estimated the gross revenue of the top six new releases in 2026 at less than $1 billion (approx. 1.4 trillion won), representing about 6.6% of Steam's total gross revenue. The top 100 games released this year combined for approximately $2.4 billion (approx. 3.3 trillion won), accounting for 15.9% of the total.
Long-tail sales of back-catalog titles were also analyzed as a key factor driving market expansion. Upon examining 900 games ranked from 101st to 1,000th in revenue this year, Alinea Analytics found that 83% were released prior to 2026. Titles released more than two years ago also accounted for two-thirds of the total.
Among Korean games, Pearl Abyss's 'Crimson Desert' was highlighted as a major new title. Alinea Analytics estimated Crimson Desert's Steam gross revenue this year at approximately $203 million (approx. 280 billion won). This accounts for roughly 18% of the total gross revenue generated by new IP games in the top 100 new releases.
Alinea Analytics predicted that if current growth continues, Steam's annual gross revenue for 2026 will comfortably surpass $20 billion (approx. 27.3 trillion won) for the first time. However, as these figures are estimates by a market analysis firm, official confirmation from Valve will be needed to verify the final totals.
